team building

For years, we’ve heard how Silicon Valley is an amazing place to work. With free lunches, napping pods, and games to be played at almost every corporate headquarters, it’s a mystery how any work gets done at all … or is it?

While corporate culture might seem incompatible with bowling alleys and ping pong tables, things have changed in the last decade or two. Now, companies want to focus on employees at every level – because they risk losing them to competitors who will appreciate them. Doing so reduces turnover and boosts loyalty.

Google understands this workplace trend and has stepped ahead of it. Let’s examine some business lessons from Google’s private bowling alley. See why it works for them, so you can improve your business.

Promote Team Building from Within

Since Google has a bowling alley at their corporate headquarters, Googleplex, in Mountain View, California, teams simply book time on the lanes and go roll a few strikes and spares together. Considered the most popular participatory sport in America, bowling has been proven to bring people together and forge relationships.

Hiring a new employee is said to cost about 150 percent of that person’s first year of salary. When you tally up HR costs, employee turnover is expensive. When companies invest in their employees, turnover drops. Maybe the bowling alley at the Googleplex campus is a better investment than it appears to be on the surface.

Boost Focus

Since employees are encouraged to have fun while on the job, Googlers aren’t dying to clock out at the end of the day. Instead, employees at Google work longer and harder without complaint. Since they can go bowl a few rounds during their corporate meeting, there’s no rush to get out by six.

Happy Employees = Happy Business Owners

A grumbling employee drags his feet through the day. One that feels appreciated and happy is excited and eager to get things done. While it can be difficult to measure this, small actions to improve workplace morale can produce a lasting impact. And simple appreciation events, like taking your team bowling, can make a difference.

Apply Google’s Business Lessons to Your Company

Since Google employs thousands of people, building a bowling alley in their corporate headquarters was a sound investment. For smaller companies, this just isn’t feasible. But borrowing from their lessons could be good for your business.

Instead of dedicating the ground floor of your office building to your own private lanes, book ours and we’ll set everything up for you. Take a hint from Google – Contact Dayna at 401.944.0500 or dayna@langsbowlarama.com to set up an unforgettable event!

High-performing companies are only as strong as their teams. Great leaders focus on building strong teams in order to reach goals and achieve more for the organization.

But do trust falls and ropes courses really strengthen teams like they seem to in the movies?

Research shows that team events will strengthen your business, but only when they’re organized with purpose. When it comes to moving the needle and making improvements, bowling remains one of the best team-building activities available.

Unlike most common team building activities, bowling is a purpose-driven game—the team that knocks down the most pins wins. When people on your team work together to get the highest score, they develop better communication skills and camaraderie. Wearing bowling shoes as a team can also break down barriers. While entry level employees might be afraid to mingle with the managers and executives at cocktail hour, bowling makes it easy to establish new relationships.

Bowling Is Inclusive

When someone on your team feels left out, they become detached and feel unappreciated. With 40 lanes, Lang’s Bowlarama can accommodate business teams of all sizes! Whether your team has only four people or four dozen, we can make sure every member of your team feels included and has fun.

Bowling Offers Controlled, Lighthearted Competition

Good-natured competition is a requirement for a successful team building event. If team members can’t come together to achieve a result or work toward a goal, they won’t leave feeling more connected. Isn’t the point of team building to bring your team closer? Knocking down more pins than the opponent requires ambition. Whether or not your team wins on the lanes, everyone has fun.

Bowling Isn’t Just Social

Taking your team out for drinks or throwing a party might be fun, but how does it improve your team? Bowling unifies your team around a specific activity, encouraging conversation and helping unfamiliar people get to know each other better. Sharing the common experience of bowling helps people establish rapport.

Bowling Promotes Cooperation

When you assign people to their bowling teams, they’ll need to work together in order to succeed and get the highest score. During the team selection process, make sure you balance the teams equally. Spread the good bowlers and athletes out across teams. Then encourage anyone with bowling skills or athletic ability to help coach their teammates to improve.

The Bottom Line

As a team building exercise, bowling will be a hit for most people on your team. The sport promotes cooperation and teamwork plus rewards those that work well together. As a social event, bowling helps team members connect, meet new people, and walk away with stronger bonds.

Are you planning a team-building event? We have great packages guaranteed to have fun! Give us a call and come lace up your bowling shoes! Call Dayna at 401-944-0500 or email dayna@langsbowlarama.com to get the ball rollin’!